Search Engine Optimization and positioning keywords isn’t hard, in fact  you can write search engine optimized content yourself by following a simple structure for each of  your web pages.

For example, if you think of the search engines as text machines, which is  really what they are because everything in search engine optimization is based on words, then it only makes sense that writing  strong, well-optimized copy that serves the search engines, and your customers, will bring you higher rankings, conversion rates, and of course, sales.

That’s what works for me

The problem though, is that most people try to overload their keyword phrases into their copy with the notion that including their keywords several times in their copy makes a difference, which it doesn’t.  Besides, there’s much more to it than that.

It’s not quantity that matters in this situation,  it’s a creative balance of how and where you use and position your keywords and key phrases that delivers the impact.

It might sound complicated, but really it’s not!

The process is very logical.  It’s one of those things that, once you see it laid out before you, you’ll wonder why you never thought of it yourself.

Most people don’t get how simple this really is.  I didn’t until I began listening to Karon Thackston.   Her SEO copywriting guide was an eye opener for me,  not only for how and where to position keywords effectively but how to write copy that creatively gets the attention of the search engines and my readers as well.

But don’t run out and get Karon’s guide just yet.  Karon’s holding a free webinar this Thursday, Nov. 17, that you can get in on completely free.

The webinar itself will give you a well thought out simple plan of action including a proven approach to improving the overall performance of all your web pages.  Which means you’ll find out how to craft well balanced, optimized copy that guides visitors click-by-click from your search engine listing all the way to your “Buy Now” links.

Karon’s seminars are always an opportunity to come away with awesome tidbits on writing search engine optimized copy and how to use keywords, and the webinar will be interactive so you’ll also have a chance to ask questions at the end.

Like I mentioned, the webinar is completely free but I will say that I’ve never attended any of Karon’s webinars that I didn’t come away with some awesome ideas and practical suggestions.   These are things that her own clients have paid her for and that she used when writing their copy.

Here’s where to register:
https://www.2checkout.com/2co/affiliate?aff_id=1441704&url=https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/376821622

If you miss the webinar for some reason, you’ll be able to hear the recording later, but you’ll have to register first so she can send you the recording.

If you miss her registration, there will be other webinars so keep an eye out.  You can also get a hold of  Karon’s  SEO copywriting course which is her mainstay product and is an excellent resource for writing search engine optimized content and positioning your keywords effectively.

If your goal is to rank well in the search engines, make writing effective SEO copy a priority, not just for some of your pages -  but for all of them.

It’s not likely that you’ll get top ranking for all your site’s pages but you’ll want to at least do well for your most important pages, so develop good habits from the start.

Here’s a 4 step checklist I use to make sure I cover all the bases for writing copy that is optimized for the search engines and for my readers…

Step 1. All Effective SEO Copy Starts with Choosing Keywords

Start by looking at what keyword phrases best describe what you are writing about.

I usually use a keyword research tool to find the most searched keywords but sometimes you just need to think about what keywords your readers would use and what you want to be found for.

For example, you may be writing on the topic of low carb diet.  OK, what about low carb diet?  Be specific with your keywords. A page about healthy low carb diet would use those keywords. If that’s what your copy is about and that’s what readers would most type into the search engines then why not simply use that phrase?

Don’t over think it, use what makes sense.

One you know what your keywords are, use this checklist to make sure you get your keywords in all the appropriate areas of your web page:

1. As part of the URL, for example www.yoursitename.com/keywordphrase.html
2. In the page Title Tag
3. In the page Description tag
4. In the first paragraph
5. In at least one Header tag (<h1>)
6. In the alt text of the graphic if there is one
7. In the body of the copy
8. In the summary or last paragraph of the page
9. Bold the keyword once on the page

If you want some clever and creative keyword strategies, I liked Karon Thackston’s Search Engine copywriting course.  Karon covers some innovative strategies for writing effective SEO copy, they are exclusively the things that have put many of my pages in the top search engine rankings.

Step 2. Begin Writing your Copy

Write copy that is useful.  If your stuck on what to write about, write on an experience you’ve had related to your topic.  If you can relate information to your readers that teaches them something or helps them remedy a situation through your personal experience, they’ll appreciate that.

Make sure what you write sounds natural and helps the reader connect to what you are saying.  If not, keep tweaking the copy until it does.

If you find this difficult just think about what you would say to a person if they were standing right in front of you.   Use your own words as if you were in a conversation with someone.

Don’t think about the search engines as you write.  Write for  your audience.  Later you can go back and tweak the copy to include various keyword phrases and ideas.

Step 3.  Effective SEO Copy is Relevant

Is your copy relevant?    For example, if your page is titled ‘how to trim a rose’  the content should demonstrate how to trim a rose; not the importance of trimming a rose or the benefits of trimming a rose, but show them how.

Additionally don’t include information on how to trim an orchid or how to trim a tree, keep the piece tightly focused on what the title suggests.

Your information on how to trim an orchid should be saved for a separate page, then link the pages together.

Step 4.  Take A Break

Believe it or not, taking a break is an important part of writing effective copy.   It will help you improve your readability and flow of ideas. You’ll come back with a clear mind that and most likely several things you’ll want to change

While reading over your copy, check your copy for flow. The paragraphs should be in logical order and there shouldn’t be any jumping from idea to idea.

Of course check for spelling and grammar errors.  That’s where having a proofreader comes in handy to look things over.  If that’s not possible then simply add another read through yourself.

Finally, make sure that you haven’t missed any opportunities to add your keyword phrase a few more times that logically make sense but won’t compromise the sound and flow of your copy.

In Summary…

Effective SEO copy is a balance of useful, unique information coupled with using creative keyword strategies.

So focus on writing good, quality copy first. Then look for strategic keyword opportunities that can boost your search engine rankings without losing the interest of your readers.

Search engine optimization doesn’t have to be complicated.

You can make it complicated if you want to, and surprisingly many people do, but I’ve found that by applying a few simple SEO strategies and couple that with pillar content, you can keep it simple and still achieve great ranking.

Here’s to simplifying the process…

1. Find a keyword Rich Domain Name

Create your site with a domain name that has your site’s main keyword phrase within it.

A quick search for a domain name for a site about eating healthy in retirement, for example,  doesn’t take too much research, after all ‘eating healthy’ is a popular phrase as is ‘retirement’.

If your chosen keyword domain name is already taken don’t worry, you can always add words to the front or back of the name.

Also use the keywords of your page’s permalink address.   For example a page about using the key phrase ‘green velvet hats’ would have a page that looks like this:

www.yoursite.com/green-velvet-hats.html

2.  Use Your keywords in all the right places

The main keyword phrase for each page of your site, including your home page, should be in these following places:

- Your page permalink:   www.yoursitename.com/keywordphrase.html (as mentioned above.)

- The title, description and keyword tags.  Most will tell you not to bother with the keyword tag, but I still add it in as there are a few search engines that use it and it doesn’t take much to just add it.

- Your Page headers.  Include your keyword phrase in the header of your page using the ‘H1′ header tag and in all sub headers using the ‘H2′ and ‘H3′ tags.

- Place your keyword phrase in the first paragraph of the page and bold it.  If you use it in another place on the page italicize it. Then place it in the last paragraph of the page.

See also 4 steps to writing Effective SEO Copy

Never, ever, never compromise the flow of your writing just to squeeze in your keyword phrase.  Instead, check here for creative ways to use keywords for better search engine copywriting.

3.  Quality, Unique Content is a Must

Never load up your site with content that you can find other places on the web.  Create your own unique content using the strategies for writing great content.  That should include writing like you speak, projecting your own ideas and telling our own story.

There’s no harm in gathering facts and writing on a topic that’s already been written about, not at all.  But when you do put those facts into words it should be your own words sprinkled with your own ideas, comments and suggestions.

Many people get lazy and like to copy and paste articles from article directories or post private label rights content right  out of the box.   That won’t get your site recognized and the search engines certainly won’t consider it for ranking.

BTW, you can certainly use PLR content on your site or blog, but never use it out of the box, check here for the correct way to use private label rights content.

4. Link to Your Own Content

Strive to get at least 3 links to each page of your site from other internal web pages.  This might sound tough but it’s easier to achieve if you think about breaking up your topics.

For example, you may want to write a page about ‘how to groom your dog’.  If you think about that topic you could easily create 4 pages on the topic.   Here’s the strategy:

• page 1: The importance of grooming a dog – Overview of why dog grooming is important and the benefits
• Page 2: Preparing your dog for grooming
• page 3:  The steps for how to groom a dog
• page 4: Supplies needed to groom a dog

I’ve seen web pages that included all three of those things on one page, but by breaking them up, your pages are not only more keyword and topic focused, you can link each of the pages together building those internal links.

In fact, this is exactly the kind of focused detail the search engines want to see.

4. Search Engine Optimization includes Creating Incoming Links

Getting links to your site or blog can be tedious. I’d rather create another web page than work on link building, but it’s an important part of the search engine optimization process.

I don’t automate the process, I prefer natural link building, but I do use high quality backlinks resources to find links with the most value.  That literally cuts my linking time in half 

Once I find quality resources to link to, I will comment on blogs, write articles and do guest posting.

Of the three I find guest posting on blogs is the most effective for traffic.  I can expand my reach a bit more with guest posting but also the search engines place a higher value on links that are contained within content as opposed to links coming from comments, side bars and footers.

5. Use Social Marketing Like Crazy

Many people look at social marketing as being a real pain in the you know what.  I use to feel the same way   But lately I’ve grown to enjoy it, that’s because it brings me results.

Actually, SEO and social marketing are merging in a way.    In fact, the search engines are now looking at Facebook likes and re-posts to help them determine rankings.  Both require useful, quality, unique content and if people are passing it on,  the search engines will too.

That speaks to the importance of using social marketing in your search engine optimization efforts.   Even if no one is responding to your comments, tweets or suggestions, they are being seen, so it’s worth using social marketing for getting your content noticed.

I suggest you block out an hour of your day for social marketing.  That doesn’t need to be all at once.  In fact I’d recommend making the social rounds about 4-5 times a day, each in about 10-15 minutes slots.

- When you write a new site page, or create a new post, add it to Facebook and Tweet it.   Look over your best site pages or your favorite blog posts and add them in as well.

- Look at what others are tweeting and writing on Facebook and make comments.  Add a funny joke or a favorite saying. Take a quick photo and add that or even a video.

Personal Tip:  I use the free TweetDeck tool for Twitter.  With Tweetdeck you can set up groups, readily see who re-tweets my comments, see specific tweets for topics of interest and so much more.

Simple Search Engine Optimization Take away…

Don’t complicate your search engine optimization.  Simplify it by focusing the majority of your efforts on creating great content and a positive user experience and couple that with basic but sound socialization and SEO strategies.

Position Yourself as the Obvious Choice, Boost Search Engine Rankings & Convert More Lookers into Buyers with the powerful Search Engine Copywriting Course with Karon Thackston.

Don’t simply write your page’s title tag as a title, use it to help you get more clicks.

Because the search engines use your title tag in their search listings when displaying your site, you should be thinking of it as free advertising.  That means crafting your title tag to command more clicks.

But how can you compel more clicks with your title tag?  Let’s look at these title tag examples:

Start by typing in your favorite keyword phrase into Google and take a look at what comes up.

Which listings get your attention?  Often times it’s not the listing that comes up as #1.

For instance, look at these title tag examples:

Which titles gets your attention?

My immediate reaction was to click on the 2nd and 4th options.  I  chose number 4 because it included the words,  ‘in 30 minutes or less’, it adds urgency.

The second option grabbed my attention because of the words,  ’10 Free Ways‘. Indicates there’s no sales pitch.

Both listings gave me a more of a  reason to click beyond just ‘ways to increase traffic’.

Title Tag Examples that Compel the Click

Good title tag examples needs to do 3 things:

1. Accurately describe your page

2.  Be relevant to what’s on the page

3. Compel a click  (this is your free advertising)

1. Use your Title Tag to accurately describe your page

Your title tag must contain your keyword phrase.  In fact, for better search engine optimization and ranking, keep your keyword phrase as close to the start of your title tag as possible.

So for example, if your keyword phrase is ‘comfortable travel shoes’,  a title tag example might be:

“Comfortable Travel Shoes That offer style & Comfort”

2.  Keep your Title Tag Relevant

Keep your page’s title  relevant to its content.  For instance, if your title tag says “How to Create a squeeze page’ but the content on your page is really about the benefits of creating a squeeze page, your page is not relevant to the title.

Be sure your title and description are relevant to what’s actually on the page. Yes, Google can tell

3.  Compel the Click

The more  compelling your title tag is, the more readers you will pull in from the search results.   So as you think about accuracy and relevancy also think about how to best grab attention.

This could be to connect emotionally, use authority, be descriptive or create curiosity.

How to write a headline that attracts attention offers 5 strategies for attract attention and getting your content read

But also consider your target market.  A realtor is Dallas will want to create a title tag that attracts people looking for homes in Dallas, so including your location is key element of not only getting clicks but getting the right clicks.

“Find Dallas Homes for Sale with Real Estate Leader”

Say It in 70 Characters or less

The number of characters in your title tag that will display in the search engines is 70, that includes spaces.   If you go beyond 70 characters, they will be cut off, so use those characters wisely.

Your Title Tag Keywords

For aid in better search engine ranking, keep your keyword phrase as close to the start of your title tag as possible.

For example, if your keyword phrase is ‘comfortable travel shoes’,  a title tag example would be:

“Comfortable Travel Shoes That offer style & Comfort”

A Few of My Favorite Title Tag Examples:

San Diego Wedding Photography – This title tag demonstrates authority.

ChrisBrogan.com – Wit this title Chris uses urgency.  ‘Get more followers ‘TODAY’!

In summary…

Use your keyword phrase and browse the search engines for titles that capture your attention.

Then compare your title tag as well as well as your description to what other listings display.  How do you measure up? Does your listing stand out?  Is it providing the added incentive to click?

One of the things I’ve paid some close attention to lately, especially for improving page rank, is the HTML header tag.

Since hearing so much about how the search engines are considering the header tags more significant than in the past, I’ve been making a few tweaks and have seen some improvement on a few of my web pages where I’ve used the HTML header tags correctly.

So let’s take a look at how I use them and a few of the tips I’ve picked up that might help you as well.

How the HTML Header Tag is Used

First off it helps to know how the HTML header tags are used by the search engines as well as your readers.

To the search engines the H1 tag is like a marker.  It’s the HTML code that tells the search engines that the text within the tags, ‘<h1> Text </h1>‘  is more important text than what directly follows it.

To the reader,  the header tag is also giving them an idea of what follows the tag, just as it does for the search engines, but for your reader it clues them in on the highlights of your content and allows them to skim, which readers like.

The search engines also give more weight to the text within the H1 tag because they use it to determine its relevance to what people are searching for.  It also tells them what the page is about.  That’s why it’s important to use your keyword phrase in your h1 tags, more on that in a minute.

Tips for Using the HTML Header Tag

Make sure that your H1 HTML header text is near the top of your page; the best place is right after the opening <body> tag.

When using the H1 tag it will typically display with a bolded slightly larger font.

Getting back to your keyword phrase, you should also use your best keyword phrase within your HTML header tags.  So make sure that your primary keyword or keyword phrase for your page is enclosed in an H1 tag.  At a minimum your header tag can simply be your keyword phrase but for your reader’s sake, it should stand out as a headline that has a natural sound to it.

For example, a headline like ‘top keyword phrases’ sounds pretty basic but it’s also a little dull with simply a keyword phrase in the tag, but a headline like ‘top keyword phrases that grab your reader’s attention‘ not only uses the keyword phrase, it’s written for the reader as well, and the search engines will prefer that.

Remember I said above that the search engines give more weight to the text within the HTML header tag?  Don’t be misled by that.  I’ve actually heard of people putting their entire web page within their header tag hoping to give the whole page more weight.

Sounds good in theory but sort of like shooting yourself in the foot.  The search engines, particularly Google, see that as spamming which means you’re likely to keep your page from gaining any rank at all.

Use your header tags the way they were designed to be used, sparingly and appropriately.

Also don’t use headers simply to make certain text look bigger.  That’s also misleading.  If you want text to stand out, either bold it or use a larger font.

Refer to Google’s Best Practices when Using Header Tags

One of the best things you can do for your webpages is pay attention to Google’s best practices.

Google relieves some of the guess work by telling us exactly what some of those best practices are for creating your webpages and using header tags.   In fact I highly recommend their SEO starter guide, page 20 is devoted to using HTML header tags correctly.

That’s a simple suggestion but a pretty valuable one since most people don’t read this guide

For example, Google tells us that when writing our web pages pretend that you’re writing an outline.  Remember those outlines you wrote in school?  This is very similar to what they are talking about.

The best questions to consider when creating  your web page would be:

What are the main points of your page?
What are the sub-points?

Use this structure to help guide you in selecting text for your header tag and other level header tags such as the H2, H3 and so on.

A word of caution though. Don’t use header tags for text that doesn’t help define the structure or purpose of the page you are creating. Your header tags need to be relevant to the text it precedes.  Google can tell when it’s not.

Several years ago the header tags were more of a styling tool to help make text appear more prominent on a page. Today that is done primarily by the CSS or Cascading Style Sheets.  Today you shouldn’t think of your Header tags as being anything other than the accurate words designating what’s important on your page.

If you’re working hard to make sure that your pages get found by potential customers through the search engines, keep your pages tightly focused, used your best keywords so that they sound natural and not phony to readers and use the HTML header tags appropriately to help the search engines as well as your readers know what your page is about, but even more importantly, use them to help you get found.

If you’re web page has made it to the first page of Google, perfect, but are  you getting clicks?

If not, it might be time to learn how to get more clicks on your Google search engine listing.

You may already be using smart web page optimization, but that may not be enough. Not everyone on Google’s first page listing gets clicks.  Getting more clicks means your search engine listing needs to pop.

Here’s how to get more clicks on your Google Search Engine Listing and make it pop with these few minor but powerful strategies…

Find the best keyword phrase for each web page

There are many Google ranking factors that Influence Your Web Pages but finding the best keyword phrase is a where it starts for getting your web page in front of the right eyes.

Google helps us, and our readers, by bolding keyword phrases in their search engine listings.  That’s important because bolded keywords drive more clicks.

That’s also nice for you because if a person searches on a keyword phrase and sees that exact phrase bolded  in your listing, they’re likely to click on it.

So your primary job for how to get more clicks on your Google search engine listing is to find the keyword phrases people search on and then creatively use those keywords in your title and description tags.

But how do we find the best keywords?

Your keyword phrase needs to describe what you page is about, but it also has to be a keyword phrase that gets searches.

Let’s say that you have a web page about how to stop smoking’.  Using the Google keyword research tool I can see that the phrase ‘how to quit smoking’‘ gets more searches than ‘how to stop smoking‘ quite a few actually and both have the same amount of competing pages.  So the choice becomes obvious.

Next, be descriptive by using long tail keywords.  For instance ‘dog grooming supplies’ is good, but a more descriptive long tail keyword phrase will help you narrow your search to a more targeted market.

For example:

• wholesale dog grooming supplies
• discount dog grooming supplies
• used dog grooming supplies
• free dog grooming supplies
• professional dog grooming supplies
• home dog grooming supplies
• best dog grooming supplies

Of course not all phrases you find will apply to your business, but use phrases that people actually search on and are as close to your page’s description as possible.

It doesn’t matter if you only see 30 searches a day for a term, as long as the keyword phrase accurately describes your page, gets searches and the competition is low, you stand a much better chance of ranking well for that term.

I’d rather have 30 people visit my site a day, than no visits at all.

How To Make Your Page Title Pop in The Search Engines

The first thing a web searcher sees is your page’s title, it’s what the search engines use when they display your site in the search engine listing,  so make it pop.

Here’s what to do:

1. Create  your title using your keyword phrase. It’s important that the words in your title match the users query.

2. Expand your keyword phrase to include a brief benefit and a call to action.  For example,

“How To Quit Smoking: Kick the Habit for Good.  Download This Free Report.“

3.  Keep your keywords toward the beginning of the title.

Create a Page Description that Compels the Click

Your description is an extension of your title, so expand on your title in a way that would attract visitors.

The best way to do this is to be sure that your description includes your exact keyword phrase and then build around that phrase to include a benefit and a call to action.

Using our above example, here’s how  the description tag might look:

“Free Report on how to Quit Smoking for Good. No more Withdrawals or Cravings. Get Yours while they’re still free”

Here are some of my favorite  power words to use in your title and description that are known attention grabbers:

• Amazing
• Awesome
• Auto-pilot
• Boost
• Competitive
• Dramatic
• Empower
• Extraordinary
• Fabulous
• Guaranteed
• high-profit
• innovative
• instrumental
• irresistible
• most trusted
• no strings
• powerful
• remarkably
• results driven
• riveting
• unrivaled
• vibrant

Here are effective call to action words to use:

• Act Now
• Click here
• Do it today
• Get yours now
• Sign up today
• Order
• Visit
• Watch

Mistakes to Avoid when Trying to get More Clicks with your Search Engine Listing

- One mistake many internet marketers make is that they put their company name in their title.  Unless you’re a major brand name, it won’t help you much.

If you really want to use your company name, try placing it at the end of your title, after your keyword phrase, benefit and call to action.

- Also don’t use the same title and description for all your site pages. In Google’s eyes your pages lose value doing this.  Each page should have its own unique keyword phrase, title and description.

- If you find that Google isn’t using your description tag, make sure your keyword phrase is in your description tag, otherwise Google will go looking for text on your page that contains your keyword phrase and use that instead.  This is another good reason to make sure you keyword phrase is also used on your page.

- If your website is listed in DMOZ, Google tells us in their webmaster tools section that they use DMOZ as a source for generating description tags.  If this is the case for your site you can prevent Google from using this information for your page’s description by using the following:

<meta name=”googlebot” content=”NOODP”>

Practice Makes Perfect

It takes practice when it comes to getting more clicks on your Google search engine listing but the thing to remember is to get your reader’s attention by including a benefit in your title and description tags and compel a call to action.   Make it hard for them to refuse the click

When I’m working on increasing page rank for my website,  I like to start from the inside and work my way out.

That means creating and improving my internal page links to my most important web pages

People tend to focus a lot on building page links to their home page but realistically your home page isn’t necessarily your most important page.

For content based websites and blogs especially, it’s your internal web pages that your readers will get the most information from and have the potential to bring you the most sales, so using smart web page optimization will be key. 

Linking to your home page may sound logical but since search engines rank web pages and not web sites, it’s the internal links or deep linking that really makes more sense with regard to bringing you the most traffic.

For example an informative ‘how to’ page or a good product review stands to bring your readers much more value than your home page, which is typically just an introduction or overview of your site.

Think of it this way, if your site has 50 pages, that’s 50 opportunities you have for getting people to your website,  so why not give every page of your site, not just your home page, a chance to rank well?

4 Effective Strategies for Increasing Your Page Rank

I especially like building links within my own site because this is where I have the most control for increasing my page rank but creating effective links starts with using the right keywords, using those keywords effectively within your content and creating relevant anchor text.

Here are 4 strategies to help you do that…

1. Use Your Best Keywords

Every page of your website needs to have at least one keyword phrase that not only best describes the content on the that page, it has to be highly relevant to what the page is about.

Using your favorite keyword research tool and keyword competition analysis will help you find relevant keywords and keyword phrases that you can rank well for.

Once you find your best keyword phrase for a page here’s what to do next:

(You might want to print this and tape it to your wall each time you create a new webpage or write a new blog post.   I sometimes forget to do each step so tacking it to my wall helps

1. Use the keyword or keyword phrase as the page title,  like this:  www.yoursite.com/keyword-phrase
2. Include the keyword in your title tag
3. Include the keyword in your page’s description
4. Include the keyword in your page headers using the header tags <h1> <h2>, <h3>
5. If your content is an article put the keyword in the summary
6. Bold the keyword once somewhere on the page
7. Include the keyword in the first and last paragraph of the page

For the things that say to ‘include’ your keywords, that means you should be using your keyword phrase with a few other words that makes the phrase sound compelling.

For example, your title and description have a lot of visibility to readers so adding a few enticing words that compel the click is like writing a good ad.

For instance, if your keyword phrase is ‘weight loss tips’ your title tag might say:

’10 Awesome Quick weight loss tips‘

Since your description tag is often what the search engines display when listing your page, think of it as an ad. Write a  description that would include your keyword phrase and compel your reader at the same time.

“10 Awesome Quick weight loss tips for losing the weight fast and keeping it off forever

2.  Write Great Content

Here we go again with the importance of writing good content.

I know I’m probably preaching to the choir when I say you need to be writing great content, but the only reason someone comes to your site is for the content, right? So it only makes sense that it should be good, meaning worthwhile, useful, easy to read and  informational.

Delivering great content is about writing online copy that is  unique and useful.  Don’t get hung up on trying to be exclusive or be the first person to deliver a new idea.  That’s not always possible.

You can however, create great content by taking an old idea or familiar topic and simply adding value to it.  It’s OK to write about how to grow tomatoes, just make sure that what you write adds value to the topic by giving your reader a point of view they find interesting and unique.

3. Use Anchor Text that is Keyword Relevant

The anchor text link is the clickbable text in a link.   It’s also one of the things that helps drive links to your internal pages.

So for example if you have a page on your site that you want to increase page rank for you would include that pages keyword phrase as anchor text on other relevant pages on your website.

Keep in mind that the goal of the search engines is to ensure visitors find useful information, so a text link in the body of a page’s content carries slightly more weight than a text link in a sidebar or a page footer.

For some of my more important pages I might actually do both, include the page’s text link in the content of other pages and include it in my sidebar.

That brings us to #4 and a strategy for getting more text links into your content.

4. Increasing Page Rank by Creating a Series of Posts or Pages

This will help specific pages of your site or blog to rank better.   For example, if you have a web page that you want to increase ranking for, you can create a series of posts (or  articles)  and point each one back to your focus page with an anchor text link.

I like to use the Google wonder wheel for finding good series topic ideas, it’s a great tool for writing a topic series.  If you’re not familiar with the wonder wheel check here for how to find and use it.

http://www.googlewonderwheel.com/google-wonder-wheel-step-by-step

Let’s take for example, that I’m trying to build traffic to my ‘weight loss tips’ page.   I can create a series of posts related to the topic of weight loss tips.

Using  the wonder wheel and entering ‘weight loss tips,  I can see that the following topics turn up:

• ideal weight
• quick weight loss
• work out tips
• weight loss foods

Each topic makes a great content page that I can link back to my weight loss tips page using ‘weight loss tips’ as anchor text.

Of course increasing page rank doesn’t stop there, getting backlinks to your website from other authority websites is also part of a successful strategy.

But it’s always best to start at the beginning, like the scarecrow says    So start with what you have control over and find relevant keywords that you can compete with, write great content, use relevant  anchor text often and  increase page rank by connecting it all together.

Increasing your page rank starts with building links from the inside,  then working your way out.

Search engine copywriting by Karon Thackston is the copywriting course that helped me quickly understand the methods for achieving  top search engine ranking for many of my website pages.

If you’re not familiar with Karon Thackston you should be, especially if you want to perfect your search engine optimization. 

In case you’re not familiar with Karon, let me introduce you.

Karon is an SEO copywriting veteran who today is an author, speaker, instructor and a Certified Landing Page Optimization Professional and the list goes on.

In other words, Karon knows SEO very well.

Hundreds of businesses and copywriters have learned search engine copywriting skills and improved their business just from working with Karon. 

I have not personally worked with Karon, but I’ve taken her Search Engine Copywriting course and will say I loved it.

What Does The Course Offer? 

Here’s what  you’ll learn how to do.

• Write copy that is targeted to your audience but first helping you know who that audience is.
• Write headlines that grab attention and holds it.
• Write copy that is compelling, reaches your readers emotions and creates an effective call to action.
• Write copy that will improve your search engine positioning but at the same time improve your conversion rates.
• Use keywords effectively with a few tricks you’ll love.

Karon teaches all of this and more in her SEO copywriting course.

Karon makes it easy to grasp the concepts. She uses clear, easy to understand examples and gets to the point quickly.  The course also comes with exercises to help you with full understanding of the concepts presented.  As you start to put the things you learn into practice, you can’t help but see a difference in your traffic and sales.

Karon’s Definition of Search Engine Copywriting

Here’s what Karon says:

“SEO copywriting is the practice of writing content to include specific key phrases in such a way that someone unfamiliar with search engine optimization would have no idea the copy has been manipulated.”

And that’s exactly what Karon shows you how to do.

By the time you complete the course  you’ll know how to write persuasive sales copy for your target audience while at the same time achieving higher search engine ranking.  Not easily achieved but doable from what you will learn in the course.

Why I chose Karon’s SEO Copywriting Course

I know Karon as an experienced  SEO copywriter and have been watching and listening to her for years.  I relate to her teaching methods, I find them easy to grasp and whatever she tells me to do I benefit from, so it was an easy decision for me.

A few years ago I took the AWAI accelerated six-figure copywriting course, which by the way was also very good, but Karon’s course is a little bit different.  AWAI is much more geared to the individual that wants to develop a career in copywriting, for instance, someone that wants to write sales letters for a living.

Karon’s course, on the other hand is directed to the internet business owner that wants to develop their copywriting skills to improve their own websites, blogs and web pages.

Karon’s course is not about how to write a sales letter, it’s about writing effective copy for your website pages, blogs, your online stores and affiliate websites.

But the course goes a step further, you’ll find out how to improve your search engine positioning for your web pages while at the same time improving your conversion rates, that’s key. Good search engine positioning is great, but if your web pages can’t compel your readers and move them to buy.

That’s a big mistake that many webmasters and online business owners make, they get too wrapped up in pleasing the search engines that they miss what it takes to convert visitors to buyers.

There IS a way to do both and Karon nails it in this course.

What’s Included in the SEO Copywriting Step-by-Step Course?

You’ll get a hard copy 214 page spiral binder, 1 video DVD and 2 audio CD’s.  I went through the video and audios in an afternoon.

The workbook has exercises, practice assignments, quizzes, worksheets and real life examples of copy that Karon has created for her own clients.  The practice assignments went a long way with helping me create my own practice sales copy.

The nice thing about a hardcopy course like this is that I can print out the worksheets and conveniently use them for ALL my copywriting.   Having a real process to follow makes a big difference.

The DVD is a video of a speaking engagement Karon did that people paid thousands of dollars to see and  includes tons of tips and secrets that Karon uses in her own copy.

Her two bonus audios are candid chats that include things like choosing and using keywords, natural SEO copywriting, writing PPC ads and several other ideas and points.

I scheduled out about an hour a day to go through the course and when I had time I added a few hours to the weekend.  At that pace I completed the course in about 10 days.

How A Search Engine Copywriting Course Like Karon’s Will Benefit You

With internet competition getting tougher all the time, writing better SEO copy is how you’ll break through the competitive barriers.

The better you are at writing effective SEO copy, the easier it will be for you to reach higher search engine ranking which means more targeted traffic and sales, that’s like free advertising!

===> Improve your SEO copywriting today, Get Search Engine Copywriting with Karon Thackston – Highly Recommended.